You Found Out Too?
Yoon Jay quietly took a taxi and got out at Incheon Airport.
The memory of what the twins had told him surfaced, but this time no one had followed him here. He'd probably booked the ticket under his real name — he'd never made anything public, after all.
What kind of lives do those kids live, anyway? It seemed he was slowly developing a very strange impression of the idol world.
"Wait, is that person...?"
"Oh my god, I think it is."
While he waited to board, a few people recognized him and snapped photos. Once aboard, the flight crew recognized Yoon Jay as well, but they were professionals and guided him to his seat without letting it show. Instead, when he stepped away, they left a snack with a note attached.
He could have been bothered by all the stares, but Yoon Jay was preoccupied with something else entirely and didn't notice them at all.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts and..."
He changed his clothes before getting off the plane. In the black suit — a look so much like mourning dress — the gaze of the flight attendant who had given him the snack lingered a long while.
Stepping out past the airport doors, Yoon Jay looked up at the sky. The weather was beautiful.
At least I won't be late...
As he stood debating what to take, a black van pulled up in front of him. The person who rolled down the window and leaned his head out was John Doe.
"John?"
"JJ. Get in."
"...Did you transfer to a protocol team, by any chance?"
Yoon Jay let out a bewildered laugh, but he didn't refuse the man's kindness.
"As it happens, I had business over this way myself."
"Thank you for the ride."
"Not going to change out of those clothes? I had something prepared in advance."
"No. This will do."
He glanced briefly at the dress uniform John had set aside for him.
It was not the Navy dress uniform Lee Da-hyun had pried about through the years, begging to see it someday. The uniform plastered with his Navy SEAL insignia, the red patch of Army Special Operations Command, and row after row of service ribbons felt somehow excessive.
"You should really wear it, though. You're expected at the service."
"I ran away first — I can't exactly take the place of honor now, can I?"
"The others in the squad don't see it that way. Neither do I."
Yoon Jay only smiled faintly and looked out the window. John caught the fine tremor at the tips of Yoon Jay's fingers, but pretended not to notice.
"Still, you should put this medal on. Security checks have gotten strict lately."
"You're not coming with me?"
"I paid my respects at the site in person. Besides, I have plenty of work."
Security's gotten strict, hm. So there must have been attempts to disrupt the funeral.
Come to think of it, he'd seen it in the news. The remnants of LIS had formed a new organization and were already carrying out violent terror attempts across Europe.
A funeral for the people who had helped eliminate LIS's supreme leader would have been a prime target.
"The leftovers seem a little worked up, don't they?"
"Well, yes."
Yoon Jay forced down the headache creeping in and hung the medal with its blue ribbon over his tie. It wasn't particularly heavy, so why did it feel so unbearably so?
Reading the tight expression on Yoon Jay's face, John flashed a knowing grin.
"Curious to know more? Then how about coming back as a civilian contractor? Your identity as a Korean celebrity might come in oddly useful..."
"Enough."
Let your guard down and this is what happens. Still, thanks to that, the tension had drained out of him. When Yoon Jay stepped out nearby, he said his goodbye through the lowered window.
"Thank you for going out of your way to drive me."
"Oh, come on. We're at the point where we can call each other friends now, aren't we?"
"I'll grant every favor you ask — except the one about coming back."
"That's a shame... Well, when you find the time, let's have a meal together."
"Yes. See you next time."
The car carrying John pulled away. The driver — one of John Doe's men — watched Yoon Jay's retreating figure in the rearview mirror and asked, almost casually:
"Is that man the famous Ten?"
"Yeah. Younger than you expected, right?"
"...Yes."
The all-out war against terror had given birth to many heroes. There were plenty of young medal recipients now, but even accounting for that, Yoon Jay looked far too young. Was it because he was Asian?
"His ability was monstrous."
Yoon Jay had been lucky in his career. The reason a man from no service academy rose through the ranks so fast was that superiors who recognized his talent deployed him aggressively. Yoon Jay always came back with results that exceeded expectations.
He found good comrades along the way — but jealousy and envy trailed right behind. Even so, the men who disliked him acknowledged his ability, at the very least.
"Just a moment, sir."
"Of course."
Entering the National Cemetery, he went through one inspection after another — whether he carried firearms, blades, or anything dangerous, and whether his identity checked out. The moment his ID verification finished, the treatment turned exemplary.
"Excuse me — there will be a security check."
Even the old guard, who scrutinized everyone with iron discipline, stopped him — but the sight of the medal around Yoon Jay's neck snapped them to attention, and they saluted.
"I will escort you."
"That's quite all right."
A staff member tried to attach himself and guide Yoon Jay to his seat, but Yoon Jay refused persistently and kept his distance.
Soon the funeral began. A war hero's homecoming. Preselected reporters and even the President had come to observe the ceremony.
He stood motionless for a long time, watching the funeral unfold. The service proceeded with solemn gravity, and when it ended and the observers filed out, he remained exactly where he was.
And then five soldiers remained before the headstone. They were the Numbers squad members who had shared life and death with Yoon Jay.
"JJ."
"Ten."
As Yoon Jay drew near, the men sensed his presence and greeted him warmly.
In truth, they'd harbored worries about how Yoon Jay would fare after discharge. Considering everything he'd been through, he would surely be plagued by PTSD — a problem countless veterans suffered from.
But seeing him so whole and healthy only made them happier.
"It's been a while."
Yoon Jay gave them a short nod and took his place beside Jayden at the front.
"You made it."
"Jayden."
Jayden had sent word he was alive through an SNS message, but Yoon Jay had never replied.
Even so, Jayden had been certain Yoon Jay was safe. They had sworn to each other not to die. And he trusted that Yoon Jay would keep his promise.
"......"
Despite the years apart, neither of them took his eyes off the headstone.
Numbers No. 2 — Brian, known among the close ones as Two-Two. The name of the comrade carved into the stone felt strangely unfamiliar. Yoon Jay stared at it for several minutes before he was the one to speak.
"I saved your life, and look at you — lying here."
"Tell me about it."
The Brian in his memory rose up, and Yoon Jay's stomach churned. Even granting that he and Jayden had been exceptionally close, that didn't mean there was no affection between him and the rest of the squad.
In fact, fewer people had gathered here than he'd expected. They must have fallen in battle while he was gone. He didn't ask for details. Learning them would only deepen the headache.
"A two-grade jump promotion? You've risen higher than me."
"Two-Two secretly envied your medals. Now he's more famous than you."
"He earned it. Him — and all of you, too."
Yoon Jay slowly ran his hand down the headstone. It was so terribly cold.
"...Someday, they'll bury us here too."
"Then let's hope it takes a long time coming."
Only then did Yoon Jay and Jayden look at each other, share a fierce embrace, and pull apart. Starting with that, he embraced the other squad members one by one.
They pointed at the long hair hanging down Yoon Jay's head.
"You've turned into a rock star, huh. Haven't seen that before."
"Ah, this. It's for a shoot."
"A shoot?"
The filming schedule for Intermission had stretched longer than planned, and he'd almost missed this gathering too. That also meant there'd been no time to cut his hair.
Under his comrades' intrigued expressions, Yoon Jay made a helpless face. These men were family to him, and he did intend to tell them, at least roughly, what he'd been up to — but he was already dreading the reactions.
"Bit long to keep standing here talking."
"Let's go."
Even after Yoon Jay had gone, Lee Seo-won remained dazed for a long while.
"Hah..."
Kwak Dohyun had long since given up counting how many sighs Lee Seo-won let out. Worried someone might witness the man's antics, he drew the blinds of the CEO's office.
"Sir, please pull yourself together."
"Hooooh..."
Kwak Dohyun shook his head and stepped out of the office. Because of Lee Seo-won's strange behavior, the employees' gazes had gathered.
"How's the CEO doing?"
"Still out of his mind."
"Did something happen, by any chance...?"
"Ah, nothing serious — just a personal matter. No need to worry."
While Kwak Dohyun smoothed things over, Lee Seo-won kept glaring at the trophy.
The trophy that bore his lifelong bias's world record. And its owner had simply set it down and walked away.
Lee Seo-won took a great, deep breath. To anyone watching, he might have looked like a man who'd just won the lottery.
Yoon Jay had treated the trophy like baggage, stashed it away in some corner, and hadn't exactly kept it in good condition. Lee Seo-won had gone out and hunted down a polishing cloth somewhere, and wiped the trophy down himself.
"Hoooooh..."
Though there was no more need to polish it, he kept wiping, sorting through his tangled thoughts.
Once he knew the answer, there was so much he should have noticed sooner. Even granting that Cho Youkyeong had a soft spot for backing newcomers, her treatment of Yoon Jay had gone too far. When sponsor rumors started swirling, that said everything.
And besides...
Talent really does stay, no matter what.
Whatever he was thrown into, the man performed at an elite level. Even after more than twenty years away, none of it had faded. Well, of course — Yoon Jae-hee had been extraordinary from the very start... no, wait.
"Haah..."
What did I ever do with a man like that in my care? I didn't make any mistakes, did I? Just as he was agonizing, his phone buzzed, and he answered at once.
"CEO Lee. Did I catch you?"
"Noona. How could you not say a single word to me?!"
It's been a while since he called me noona. Cho Youkyeong thought that, and then spoke.
"What's this all of a sudden?"
"Yoon Jay! It's about Yoon Jay!"
Cho Youkyeong's eyes gleamed. If the boy was reacting this intensely, could it be...
"Oh my. You found out too?"
"I did! He just walked into the company out of nowhere and showed me the trophy—!"
"So he told you first. Well, he is a sweet kid. I suppose deceiving you didn't sit well with him."
Hearing Cho Youkyeong's unbothered response, Lee Seo-won felt heat rushing to his head. Of course, they had no obligation to tell him. Still, being hurt was being hurt.
He was a man whose life had been changed by The Child. And he had never once hidden that he loved The Child.
He had even made regular rounds searching for Yoon Jae-hee's whereabouts in hopes of bringing him into his agency. Cho Youkyeong had joined that effort a few times herself, as it happened.
"Don't be too hard on him. He must have been at his wit's end, telling you first like that. To Jay, you've become an important person too, you know."
"Haaah... The people I feel betrayed by are you and the director."
"Well, what could anyone do when he asked us to keep it quiet? He made you promise to keep it secret too, didn't he?"
Lee Seo-won pressed his mouth shut. He remembered the way Yoon Jay had spoken, as composed as ever.
"I'm sorry you've been deceived through no fault of my own."
"You have nothing to apologize to us for. Thank you for telling us... Are you planning to make this public?"
"For now, I'd like only the three of you to know. Compared to the past, I'm still lacking."
"Why? You exploded the moment you debuted."
"Understood. I'll make sure nothing leaks."
Of course he understood why Yoon Jay hadn't revealed it from the start. The glory of his past was staggering — anyone would fear being seen through tinted lenses afterward.
Wow, this... this is no ordinary embarrassment.
He had no regrets toward Yoon Jay. Quite the opposite — being told at all felt like an immense honor.
It was just... the agency CEO who had confidently declared he would prove himself through ability alone turned out, upon closer inspection, to be a man who'd spent his youth fangirling over him? His face burned.
And it's not like I even pushed him that hard...
In fairness, Lee Seo-won had promoted Yoon Jay well. He'd spared no investment, and secured him roles in the projects he wanted.
But all of it fell far short of the plans he had once laid down for 'Yoon Jae-hee.'
As if reading that thought, Cho Youkyeong's laughter-laced voice came through the phone.
"When you're free later, let's get together with the director — the three of us. How about tonight?"
"Even if I have plans, I'm clearing them. No question."
Lee Seo-won shot to his feet.